Develop Bugs

Trying to revert to stock ROM AT&T I747

I tried using this process: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1746665 to root my phone
After the odin push of the insecure kernel the phone wouldn't boot normally.
I am able to get into download mode, but the phone won't boot.
I'd like to be able to apply a stock rom back to the phone.
When I flash this ROM through odin it fails http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1737848

steves2947 said:
I tried using this process: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1746665 to root my phone
After the odin push of the insecure kernel the phone wouldn't boot normally.
I am able to get into download mode, but the phone won't boot.
I'd like to be able to apply a stock rom back to the phone.
When I flash this ROM through odin it fails http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1737848
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
boot into recovery and do a factory reset... this helped me

mlemonds said:
boot into recovery and do a factory reset... this helped me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No luck, it doesn't get past the "samsung" screen

steves2947 said:
No luck, it doesn't get past the "samsung" screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you able to get into recovery at all, or no.
There are two 'samsung' screens that i know of, i was stuck at the step 4.
1st: 'samsung'
2nd: 'Samsung Galaxy S III'
3rd: AT&T splash screen
4th: pulsating 'samsung'

I'm going to assume you are stuck on the pulsating Samsung screen. Here is what you should do. Go into the att cwm mode (not the real cwm) by holding volume up, home button, and then power button. Wipe data/factory reset and wipe cache. Then put phone into download mode - volume down, home button, and power button. Open Odin 3.07 on computer, select the from you want to flash in the PDA field, and then plug your phone via the USB cable that came with the phone into a USB port that is connected to your computers motherboard. You should see the COM port turn blue. Flash ROM and you should be good to go.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

Yes, I can get into recovery and into download mode.
I was able to flash cwm recovery, but can't access the external SD card to attempt to flash a rom that way.
I tried factory reset/data wipe no luck.
I think something with the kernel i loaded is corrupt, so I need to find a known good stock rom to flash via odin.
It gets to the "2nd: 'Samsung Galaxy S III'" if I go into recovery mode.
Never past the first pulsing Samsung in normal boot, or download modes.

bablon bhalco
Was able to locate a working stock rom.
"Samsung-Updates.com-SGH-I747_ATT_1_20120704210732_mk7pwhw8ij"
I appear to be back in biz now.
Here is the link for anyone else who has this issue....
samsung-updates.com/get/195/Samsung_Firmware_SGH-I747_ATT_I747UCALG1_Android_4_0_4.html
Frakin image verification.

Bricked? or Soft Brick...

Hi guys,
Was trying to install a ROM last night in CWM Recovery, then I was having some difficulty, after each ROM swipe I was doing the Factory Wipe/Dalvik Cache Wipe/Cache Wipe.
Anyways, I ended up having to try and flash the pre-rooted Stock ROM, I used Odin 3.07 to flash it and in Odin it appeared to work fine, the phone was rebooting and Odin was in "Pass" mode, but the phone never gets beyond the Samsung boot screen.
I then tried to see if I could flash CWM Recovery in Odin and try and get into Recovery mode, it flashed fine in Odin and the device rebooted but still stuck in Samsung boot screen.... but I cannot get into Recovery mode manually, I even tried getting in via the Q3 Toolbox kit, and it says it cannot locate the device :/
So today, last desperate option, I tried flashing the un-rooted stock image for my carrier (Rogers), it seemed to work fine in Odin but it STILL just will not boot back up, still stuck in the Samsung boot screen.
Is this what a brick is? Beyond continually trying to re-flash the stock carrier MD5 via Odin, what can I do? Oddly enough the phone does recognize in the Q3 Toolbox for the Root options, just not for the Reboot into Recovery option. Is there something I can try in the Q3 Toolbox?
/Scared / really concerned
Please help, any help is appreciated.
Once again, I CANNOT get into CWM Recovery.

Sianspheric said:
Hi guys,
Was trying to install a ROM last night in CWM Recovery, then I was having some difficulty, after each ROM swipe I was doing the Factory Wipe/Dalvik Cache Wipe/Cache Wipe.
Anyways, I ended up having to try and flash the pre-rooted Stock ROM, I used Odin 3.07 to flash it and in Odin it appeared to work fine, the phone was rebooting and Odin was in "Pass" mode, but the phone never gets beyond the Samsung boot screen.
I then tried to see if I could flash CWM Recovery in Odin and try and get into Recovery mode, it flashed fine in Odin and the device rebooted but still stuck in Samsung boot screen.... but I cannot get into Recovery mode manually, I even tried getting in via the Q3 Toolbox kit, and it says it cannot locate the device :/
So today, last desperate option, I tried flashing the un-rooted stock image for my carrier (Rogers), it seemed to work fine in Odin but it STILL just will not boot back up, still stuck in the Samsung boot screen.
Is this what a brick is? Beyond continually trying to re-flash the stock carrier MD5 via Odin, what can I do? Oddly enough the phone does recognize in the Q3 Toolbox for the Root options, just not for the Reboot into Recovery option. Is there something I can try in the Q3 Toolbox?
/Scared / really concerned
Please help, any help is appreciated.
Once again, I CANNOT get into CWM Recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're soft bricked, don't panic just yet. A hard brick is when the device is completely unresponsive. So far this sounds fixable.
To get into recovery, are you holding down the volume up + home key for long enough after the Samsung logo appears?
I'd try that again, but if not: Try to Odin CWM again but uncheck "Auto-Reboot" in Odin. After it's done flashing, pull the battery out, put it back in, and use the key combos to get into recovery. Hopefully you have a nandroid backup saved or another rom saved on your sd that you can restore at this point. (Please note that using this method may increase your flash counter, but that can easily be fixed with Triangle Away).
Hope this helps.

If its just hanging at the samsung logo..pull the battery, put it back in, boot into stock recovery ( vol up+home+power) wipe data/factory reset then reboot.
After that just download one f the one click rooted stock rogers roms. Odin it, Then use the S3 toolkit to flash a recovery only.
Should be goo to go from there

I am flashing the pre-rooted stock ROM's via Odin again, and then will try and flash CMW Recovery again but without the Auto-Reboot selected.
I was pretty certain I was holding the keys long enough previously to try and get back into Recovery but it never would actually go into CWM Recovery.
Will let you guys know how it goes, thanks for replying.

skrambled said:
You're soft bricked, don't panic just yet. A hard brick is when the device is completely unresponsive. So far this sounds fixable.
To get into recovery, are you holding down the volume up + home key for long enough after the Samsung logo appears?
I'd try that again, but if not: Try to Odin CWM again but uncheck "Auto-Reboot" in Odin. After it's done flashing, pull the battery out, put it back in, and use the key combos to get into recovery. Hopefully you have a nandroid backup saved or another rom saved on your sd that you can restore at this point. (Please note that using this method may increase your flash counter, but that can easily be fixed with Triangle Away).
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried this.
Flashed the pre-rooted stock ROM, it went to Pass in in Odin, device never booted past the boot screen. Pulled out battery, re-inserted and then flashed CWM Recovery in Odin with Auto-Reboot turned off, that went fine to Pass, pulled battery and did the key combo to enter Recovery. I got the "Booting Recovery" in top left corner in blue for a second, held onto the key combo and nothing, just went back into the same Samsung boot screen and it's stuck there.

Sianspheric said:
Just tried this.
Flashed the pre-rooted stock ROM, it went to Pass in in Odin, device never booted past the boot screen. Pulled out battery, re-inserted and then flashed CWM Recovery in Odin with Auto-Reboot turned off, that went fine to Pass, pulled battery and did the key combo to enter Recovery. I got the "Booting Recovery" in top left corner in blue for a second, held onto the key combo and nothing, just went back into the same Samsung boot screen and it's stuck there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm...one more thing to try. Re-download the stock firmware image in the unlikely event that you got a bad/corrupted download (also may want to try the version that doesn't have root injected). Then try again.
I'd say to try a different USB port on your pc, but since Odin is saying Pass that doesn't seem likely. Worth a shot though if the above fails (and also worth trying to Odin from a different computer).
Hang in there, you aren't hard-bricked yet! :fingers-crossed:

It has to rebuild cache everytime you flash, if you are clearing things correctly. This can take up to 10 minutes. Also, when the first samsung logo appears take finger off power button and hold the home and appropriate volume button.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

The Q3 Toolbox kit saved me.
I couldn't flash into Recovery (not CWM Recovery, stock Recovery) no matter how long I held the key combo
But I eventually managed to get into Stock Recovery using the Q3 Toolbox.
Thanks for the advice people.
Holy shiiit that was nerve wracking for a while.

AOKP to STOCK BIG PROBLEMS

i need some help here guys. i was running AOKP for the longest time and loving it. then today i tried to update to the latest version. i downloaded the rom and went to flash the .zip in CWM. i've done this dozens of times. this time things were completely different. i kept getting FCs over and over. so i booted into recovery again to reflash. for whatever reason, it seemed like my file system was corrupted. folders i had never seen were all over the place. it was a big mess. i decided to flash back to stock. i booted into DL mode and did this with odin successfully. then upon reboot, the phone was stuck at the Samsung logo. looking into this i saw that i needed to boot into recovery, wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache, and wipe dalvik cache. i tried doing this but no matter what, my phone will not boot into recovery. i have even used odin to flash CF-SGS3-CWM-v5.5-v1.0.tar. when i press volume up+home+power i get the first samsung logo with the tiny blue text up at the top saying "recovery booting" but then nothing happens and the phone just goes to a normal boot attempt, which stalls at the samsung logo. please help guys. just for a quick overview. was on [ROM] AOKP(Jellybean 4.2.1 )Task & Ktoonsez (12/23) (AT&T/Rogers), potential file system corruption during a routine upgrade, flashed back to stock with odin (meaning i can still boot into DL mode), but CANNOT boot into RECOVERY mode. i'm freaking out

jamesquags said:
i need some help here guys. i was running AOKP for the longest time and loving it. then today i tried to update to the latest version. i downloaded the rom and went to flash the .zip in CWM. i've done this dozens of times. this time things were completely different. i kept getting FCs over and over. so i booted into recovery again to reflash. for whatever reason, it seemed like my file system was corrupted. folders i had never seen were all over the place. it was a big mess.
i decided to flash back to stock. i booted into DL mode and did this with odin successfully. then upon reboot, the phone was stuck at the Samsung logo. looking into this i saw that i needed to boot into recovery, wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache, and wipe dalvik cache. i tried doing this but no matter what, my phone will not boot into recovery.
i have even used odin to flash CF-SGS3-CWM-v5.5-v1.0.tar. when i press volume up+home+power i get the first samsung logo with the tiny blue text up at the top saying "recovery booting" but then nothing happens and the phone just goes to a normal boot attempt, which stalls at the samsung logo. please help guys.
just for a quick overview. was on [ROM] AOKP(Jellybean 4.2.1 )Task & Ktoonsez (12/23) (AT&T/Rogers), potential file system corruption during a routine upgrade, flashed back to stock with odin (meaning i can still boot into DL mode), but CANNOT boot into RECOVERY mode. i'm freaking out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, good job on searching before posting! :good:
Second, if you want help, try using capital letters at the start of a sentence and using paragraphs. It makes it sooo much easier to read that way.
Third, just keep trying. But from what you're saying about a file-system issue, that could be bad? It's not familiar to me anyways. Hope it didn't damage the internal SD.
If nothing else works, then try the USB-JIG to access Recovery mode. They're like $5 on eBay.
Okay, try these things.
1) Odin a non-rooted, stock ROM that comes with a 3E recovery and try to access that recovery.
If that doesn't work, move onto this step:
2) Odin a different recovery. I attached one to this post. Just unzip it and then odin it. :CWM-Recovery-LTE-SGS3-v5.tar:
Try to get recovery again after a battery pull.

If that doesn't do it, then try this next:
1) Odin a rooted ROM onto the phone.
2) Download the attached "openrecovery-twrp-2.3.1.0-d2att" and unzip it.
3) Download this ADB & Fastboot tool and extract it to your C:/ drive with subfolders using this path: "C:/Android/platform-tools/".
Here is the file to download:
http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=9390135922294523275
4) Rename the openrecovery-twrp-2.3.1.0-d2att to "recovery" and place it into the Platform-tools folder.
5) Open the JPEG and follow the EXACT same commands in the pic. This will install TWRP recovery for you.
Then try once again to get into recovery.
If it still doesn't work, then buy a USB Jig.

REPLY
Thanks so much for the advice.
Regarding the TWRP installation, is the phone connected to the computer in DL mode for this?
I am currently downloading a rooted stock ROM. This might help shed light on what is going on here.... I unzipped the .tar you attached to your first post and stuck it in the PDA slot with the phone connected and in DL mode. ODIN did nothing and the returned a FAIL message saying that it "Failed to Open Serial [COM] Port". Hmmmm. Anyways I am going to try to install the TWRP recovery. If not I will buy the USB jig. Thanks again for you help. -jim

jamesquags said:
"Failed to Open Serial [COM] Port".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you installed the phone drivers? They're linked from the Odin thread.

smelenchuk said:
Have you installed the phone drivers? They're linked from the Odin thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes i have installed the drivers. I have flashed multiple .tar files today.

jamesquags said:
Thanks so much for the advice.
Regarding the TWRP installation, is the phone connected to the computer in DL mode for this?
I am currently downloading a rooted stock ROM. This might help shed light on what is going on here.... I unzipped the .tar you attached to your first post and stuck it in the PDA slot with the phone connected and in DL mode. ODIN did nothing and the returned a FAIL message saying that it "Failed to Open Serial [COM] Port". Hmmmm. Anyways I am going to try to install the TWRP recovery. If not I will buy the USB jig. Thanks again for you help. -jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The TWRP doesn't use Odin. You have to use ADB/FastBoot like I show in the picture attached with it.
I have yet to find an Odin flashable TWRP.

CZ Eddie said:
The TWRP doesn't use Odin. You have to use ADB/FastBoot like I show in the picture attached with it.
I have yet to find an Odin flashable TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After flashing the ROOTED STOCK ROM, I tried about 7 times to boot into recovery. It finally did!!! I then was able to do a wipe data and cache and I'm all set.
Thanks so much for helping me out. -jim

To get into recovery hold the power+volume up+ home key when you see the blue text at the top of the screen let go if the power button but still press the home + volume up
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

jerrycoffman45 said:
To get into recovery hold the power+volume up+ home key when you see the blue text at the top of the screen let go of the power button but still press the home + volume up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you continue to hold the home + volume up? I release all three as soon as I see the blue text and it goes into Recovery just fine for me.

CZ Eddie said:
Why do you continue to hold the home + volume up? I release all three as soon as I see the blue text and it goes into Recovery just fine for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont know i have always done it that way well learned something new just tried it your way thanks

[Q] Fixboot.tar Install/backscreen on reboot

I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 SGH-I747 (AT&T) that I updated OTA to 4.1.1 a while back. I just decided to root the phone using Odin3 V3.04 and clockworkmod.tar. I tried using clockworkmod at first but couldn't get the phone to go into CWM recovery mode. It just went into stock recovery instead. Reading further, I was told that I need to flash fixboot.tar first, then clockworkmod.tar, then flash CWM_SuperUser_3.0.7.zip file in recovery mode. When I used odin to flash fixboot.tar and rebooted, it boots the Galaxy S3 logo, at&t chime, then goes black with Amber light. It will not boot fully. I then used Odin to flash clockworkmod.tar, rebooted and it also went to blackscreen.I was then able to go into recovery mode and flash the Superuser zip file and reboot but I'm still getting the black screen. What did the fixboot.tar file do to my phone?? Can I reverse this without flashing a whole new rom? I have search the forum for severalhours now with no luck. Any help would be great.

where did you get your initial information and tar? as well as the fixboot info and tar?
check out this rooting thread here on xda. the purpose is to flash cwm recovery onto your device. you then boot into the custom recovery you just installed and root from there. instructions are on the thread.
recovery mode is: vol up + home + power. release just the power button when your device vibrates

xBeerdroiDx said:
where did you get your initial information and tar? as well as the fixboot info and tar?
check out this rooting thread here on xda. the purpose is to flash cwm recovery onto your device. you then boot into the custom recovery you just installed and root from there. instructions are on the thread.
recovery mode is: vol up + home + power. release just the power button when your device vibrates
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it from this link - http://rootgalaxys3iii.com/root-at-t-galaxy-s3/
I am aware of the process you mentioned, but it would not work. It just kept going into standard recovery mode instead of custom recovery so I could never root from there. Thats when I came across this link and thought I needed to flash fixboot.tar first as it states. It did work! I was able to flash clockworkmod.tar and then root the phone, but what good does that do now that my phone is hosed at the blackscreen...There were two sites that said to use this fixboot method. I should have known better...
I just read your thred. Looks like my problem was letting the phone reboot. Is there any way to reverse the fixboot.tar I used? Maybe there is a 4.1.1 boot.tar that can put things back as they were?

via the link i provided, in odin, were you unticking the "auto reboot" box?
i've used that thread method on several S3's with no problems. if you were getting a PASS message then it actually worked.
can you get into recovery now? if so, wipe data/factory reset and wipe cache. reboot.

xBeerdroiDx said:
via the link i provided, in odin, were you unticking the "auto reboot" box?
i've used that thread method on several S3's with no problems. if you were getting a PASS message then it actually worked.
can you get into recovery now? if so, wipe data/factory reset and wipe cache. reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used that method from another site and I was getting a pass. It looks like my issue was letting it reboot. When it didn't go into CWM recovery,I used the fixboot.tar and thats when my phone would not boot past the boot screen. I still have some unsaved material and don't want to wipe the phone. I can get into CWM recovery now. Will doing a data/factory reset wipe everything? If so, is that my only option at this point? I don't want to go to factory and lose everything unless I have to.

OpusxXx said:
I used that method from another site and I was getting a pass. It looks like my issue was letting it reboot. When it didn't go into CWM recovery,I used the fixboot.tar and thats when my phone would not boot past the boot screen. I still have some unsaved material and don't want to wipe the phone. I can get into CWM recovery now. Will doing a data/factory reset wipe everything? If so, is that my only option at this point? I don't want to go to factory and lose everything unless I have to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, since I got no response, I did what you said and deleted everything. I still have the same problem. Phone boots to Samsung logo, does jingle and geos to blackscreen with blue light.
Back to my original question. I used the fixboot.tar and it jacked my phone where it only boots to blackscreen with blue light. Is there a fix for this???

Unbricking phone?

So I was installing modaco switch on my phone and it worked for a bit but then when I rebooted it it wouldn't turn on. I've tried flashing it in odin and nothing happened and it still doesn't work. I was wondering if anyone else had any ideas.

Can you access Odin? If so, I recommend flashing back to stock first.

joshua.justice said:
So I was installing modaco switch on my phone and it worked for a bit but then when I rebooted it it wouldn't turn on. I've tried flashing it in odin and nothing happened and it still doesn't work. I was wondering if anyone else had any ideas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you able to get your device into ODIN/Download mode?
If so, flash the Samsung Stock Firmware as macboy3000 suggested.
To get your device into ODIN mode:
Power down device
Press Power and Vol down buttons and hold
Device should show an image
Press Vol up and you'll be in ODIN mode
Some helpful tips:
Follow the instructions via the red link in my sig.
Be sure to have enough juice in your battery
Have a good usb cord. This is the reason many ODIN flashes fail.
Check your md5 checksum match between the download file and your download prior to flashing the stock Firmware.

macboy3000 said:
Can you access Odin? If so, I recommend flashing back to stock first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Biker1 said:
Are you able to get your device into ODIN/Download mode?
If so, flash the Samsung Stock Firmware as macboy3000 suggested.
To get your device into ODIN mode:
Power down device
Press Power and Vol down buttons and hold
Device should show an image
Press Vol up and you'll be in ODIN mode
Some helpful tips:
Follow the instructions via the red link in my sig.
Be sure to have enough juice in your battery
Have a good usb cord. This is the reason many ODIN flashes fail.
Check your md5 checksum match between the download file and your download prior to flashing the stock Firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried flashing it twice and it still said successful when it finished flashing but continued to boot loop.
I'm not sure what would cause think

joshua.justice said:
I tried flashing it twice and it still said successful when it finished flashing but continued to boot loop.
I'm not sure what would cause think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After you flashed ODIN, did you go into stock recovery and Factory reset, then reboot, both from within Recovery?

Biker1 said:
After you flashed ODIN, did you go into stock recovery and Factory reset, then reboot, both from within Recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I don't think it'll boot the stock recovery but I'll try that

If you flash stock and still receive boot loops, try going into recovery and wiping data and cache.

take out your sdcard too just for the hell of it.

I just reread your post, and your device is working fine, it's just that you want to know how to get Modaco Switch to work on your device with stability, because it stops working shortly after it's installed.
I had thought your device stopped working. I don't think ODIN will be your answer, and I don't about Modaco.
Maybe:
See if others have Modaco Switch working with stability, and if so:
try wiping cache & dalvik cache in Recovery, or try wiping first.

Biker1 said:
I just reread your post, and your device is working fine, it's just that you want to know how to get Modaco Switch to work on your device with stability, because it stops working shortly after it's installed.
I had thought your device stopped working. I don't think ODIN will be your answer, and I don't about Modaco.
Maybe:
See if others have Modaco Switch working with stability, and if so:
try wiping cache & dalvik cache in Recovery, or try wiping first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not working fine. It doesn't boot at all. I tried going into recovery and it still boot loops even after flashing with odin.

joshua.justice said:
It's not working fine. It doesn't boot at all. I tried going into recovery and it still boot loops even after flashing with odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, so I did read it right the first time. I saw the title the 1st time but I didn't see it the 2nd time, which is why I thought just Modaco wasn't turning on when I read your post without reading the title the 2nd time.
Plus I missed all the follow up posts. That's what I get for running around on my phone trying to read threads
With that being said, then what I wrote should resolve your issues.
Follow my RED link in my sig, and that should help to resolve your issues. I wrote out the steps previously, but looking at the link may help you

Biker1 said:
Ah, so I did read it right the first time. I saw the title the 1st time but I didn't see it the 2nd time, which is why I thought just Modaco wasn't turning on when I read your post without reading the title the 2nd time.
Plus I missed all the follow up posts. That's what I get for running around on my phone trying to read threads
With that being said, then what I wrote should resolve your issues.
Follow my RED link in my sig, and that should help to resolve your issues. I wrote out the steps previously, but looking at the link may help you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't boot into recovery so how can I wipe those?

joshua.justice said:
It doesn't boot into recovery so how can I wipe those?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mentioned in the op you tried flashing in ODIN.
What exactly is your phone able to do?
Do you see anything on the display?
Does it boot into anything?
Etc...
What does 'tried going into recovery but it still boot loops' mean?
If you go step by step what you did before the issue and after, including Exactly what status your device is in, it will help in attempting to troubleshoot and resolve your issues.

I can get it into download mode but flashing Odin does nothing. When I hit the power button to turn it on it goes all the way until the t mobile logo and stalls. Sometimes it just vibrations off and on with a dark screen. When I try to go into recovery with the volume up and power keys or says 'rebooting recovery' in blue like it always does but then it just goes to booting normally and then hangs there.

joshua.justice said:
I can get it into download mode but flashing Odin does nothing. When I hit the power button to turn it on it goes all the way until the t mobile logo and stalls. Sometimes it just vibrations off and on with a dark screen. When I try to go into recovery with the volume up and power keys or says 'rebooting recovery' in blue like it always does but then it just goes to booting normally and then hangs there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you confirm what version of the S4 you have?
The SGH-M919?
Not trying to be stupid or anything, just making sure.
Have you tried this..
1. Flash a recovery image using Heimdall (I'd suggest ClockworkMod)
2. Reboot to recovery. (Hopefully it goes through this time)
3. adb sideload a ROM to your device.
4. Flash the ROM.
5. Win?
Just trying to think of ways you can get your device back up and running.

joshua.justice said:
I can get it into download mode but flashing Odin does nothing. When I hit the power button to turn it on it goes all the way until the t mobile logo and stalls. Sometimes it just vibrations off and on with a dark screen. When I try to go into recovery with the volume up and power keys or says 'rebooting recovery' in blue like it always does but then it just goes to booting normally and then hangs there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to:
Power down device
Don't power up
Press Power and Vol down buttons simultaneously
Press Vol up button
You should be in ODIN mode

Biker1 said:
You have to:
Power down device
Don't power up
Press Power and Vol down buttons simultaneously
Press Vol up button
You should be in ODIN mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that. It's caked download mode. That's where I flashed Odin off my computer.

I noticed after flashing stock with Odin, I get bootloops, unless I do a factory reset. After stock flashes, it reboots into recovery and wipes cache by itself. When it finishes that and it starts to reboot by itself, I press the volume up button and go into recovery. I do a factory reset and reboot and all is fine, no bootloops.

norml said:
I noticed after flashing stock with Odin, I get bootloops, unless I do a factory reset. After stock flashes, it reboots into recovery and wipes cache by itself. When it finishes that and it starts to reboot by itself, I press the volume up button and go into recovery. I do a factory reset and reboot and all is fine, no bootloops.
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Mine doesn't do that though. It just boot loops without going into recovery.

joshua.justice said:
Mine doesn't do that though. It just boot loops without going into recovery.
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I understand that, my post is describing what happens when you flash a stock tar, not bootlooping, I am describing exactly what happens during the process of flashing a stock tar and how to avoid bootlooping, step by step. I guess you weren't paying attention when you flashed a stock tar with Odin, it reboots for the first time by itself and goes into stock recovery and wipes cache by itself, it's a normal process, maybe that part confused you. Any hows, good luck, I have explained step by step what I do to avoid bootloops and my directions are clear and simple. Bye.